By now you’ve heard about the Department of Homeland Security’s solution for the
U.S. immigration problem.
Since Congress failed to pass legislation that would give the service and agriculture sectors access to a legal work force, DHS has taken upon itself to crack down on Social Security Number mismatches. Yes, the Feds have decided that you, the business owners of
America , are much more suited for enforcing the nation’s immigration laws than they are.
Todd Davis is former editor, Nursery Management & Production, and 2006 recipient of SNA's Pinnacle Award for industry service.
Previously, there was no legal requirement to respond to SSN mismatch notifications. Now failure to do so in a timely manner is a crime. It could mean you have “constructive knowledge” that you’ve hired an illegal alien.
As I’ve said before, “constructive knowledge” means a reasonable person could infer the worker is an undocumented immigrant. “Actual knowledge” is when the employee shows up to work in his “Hi, I’m an illegal alien” T-shirt.
Identity theft anyone?
The hard fact is that the Social Security Administration has an estimated 9 million mismatched names and SSNs. Yes, simple clerical errors (typos, etc.) account for some of this total. But that means a staggering number of people are out there working under SSNs they pulled from midair.
When the next wave of mismatch letters hits the mail, which should be happening right about now, a whole bunch of people are going to be put out on the street. And keep in mind these are resourceful people.
They snuck into the
United States , secured false documents and are gainfully employed. It won’t be hard for them to figure out their next logical step: stealing someone’s identity.
You see, the new DHS laws will not catch people if the names they give employers match the SSNs. If a job applicant tells you he’s John Smith; SSN 123-45-6789, and that name and number match what’s in the system, no bells or whistles go off in the SSA office.
What happens is that, sometime down the road, you’ll get a call from a John Smith. He’ll want to know why the Internal Revenue Service notified him that he needs to turn in his W-2 for his wages earned at your nursery -- even though he’s never stepped foot in your state.
I’ve spoken to many nursery owners who have already received such phone calls.
Breaking the broken
The
U.S. immigration laws don’t work. It’s a broken system.
Add a really dumb enforcement scheme on top of that, and you have disorder on the highest level.
Congress missed the boat and didn’t pass a comprehensive immigration package when it had the chance. Lawmakers can get a slight reprieve in my book if they act immediately and pass some sort of safe harbor rule that would protect employers from DHS’s new enforcement protocols.
That’s the least they could do. Give the employers a year before releasing the DHS hounds.
And during that timeframe, Congress can pass an immigration package that will give employers access to a legal work force.
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